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Digitizing Deteriorating Images of Works of Art Photographed in American Collections

To support: Digitization of 15,000 large-format negatives of art works held in private homes and small public institutions throughout the United States during the early to mid-20th century.

The Frick Collection proposes a two-year project to digitize, and make available online, the 15,000 remaining endangered negatives in its art image collection. These unique 8x10 inch black and white negatives, made between 1922 and 1967, document works of art in private homes and small public collections throughout the United States. They record paintings, works on paper, and sculpture that are not generally well known and were rarely--if ever--otherwise photographed. In some cases, these historical documents are the only extant images of works of art that have been lost, stolen, or destroyed. The images, together with the extensive firsthand information about the original works of art, constitute an irreplaceable resource for humanities research, particularly for the history of art and art collecting, American history, social history, material culture, and genealogy. This project represents the completion of a project begun in 2009 which was funded in part by the NEH.